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In recent years, scholars of ancient empires have turned their attention to the application of postcolonial theories, which insist on local agency, the multi-vocality of evidence, and power distribution. Not restricted to an actual post-colonial (“liberated”) situation, the field of postcolonialism investigates colonialism’s discourses, power structures, and social hierarchies; emphasizes liminalities and views cultural borders and their constant reorganization as fundamental in colonial interactions. Through these colonial interactions, social structures and identities are formed and altered. Scholars have proposed various models in their attempts to address the complex nature of the colonial experience and its transcultural character. Time and again, the common denominator among these models has shown itself to be the search for dialogues among the various groups—dialogues that primarily occurred through individual “agents.”

Accordingly, this workshop aims to draw together studies of the colonial interactions in given geographical niches, within a given time frame, and by employing a range of scholarly methods. The chosen case study is the interaction between the indigenous population of the Levant and the Assyrian state and its agents during the 9th—7th centuries BCE. The intrusive Assyrian activity in the Levant and its consequent hegemony was a transformative force that intensified and eventually terminated processes of social differentiation, state formation, and the creation of regional identities that had begun to form in the late second millennium BCE. Implemented across several phases, a superregional network enabled Assyrian control over extensive territories and restricted the sovereign rights of subservient local peoples. The Assyrian domination expanded, through force, incorporating smaller entities and transforming them into a single, hegemonic “Land of Assyria.” This imperial core crafted a dense network of topographical corridors, secured by hubs throughout the Levant, hosted by imperial agents alongside settlers from the imperial core, and displaced groups. These intrusive groups interacted with surrounding social groups through a range of political considerations, economic goals, and the cultural setting of the local population.

We anticipate that an interdisciplinary meeting of archaeologists, biblical scholars, and Assyriologists, using a varied range of theories, methods and sources, will burst forth into a dynamic fruitful discussion of the complexity of the “Assyrian experience” in the Levant.

We would direct our discussion at investigating the possibilities of such an approach while addressing the following topics related to the imperial–indigenous interaction:

The image of the colonial forces in the mind of the indigenous individuals and groups;